Wildcats down rival Whitefish, 57-37
Columbia Falls used a strong second-half performance to cruise past rival Whitefish at home Thursday as the Wildcats picked up a 57-37 victory.
The Wildcats’ recent shooting woes appeared a distant memory against the Bulldogs as Columbia Falls opened the game with a 12-3 run that included a pair of threes by Austin Green and Drew Morgan. The Cats continued to shoot well throughout the contest.
“We were definitely due to play a complete game and I thought we did that, for the most part,” head coach Chris Finberg said. “Both the offense and defense looked pretty good and our numbers were good statistically. It was nice to come out on the winning end.”
The Cats led by as many as 10 in the second quarter, but Whitefish made a strong run in the closing minutes of the half to cut the Columbia Falls lead to 26-23 at the break.
Green made a statement with a long three to open the second half and the rest of the Wildcats responded with a 9-0 run to push the lead to 12. Quintin Shriver added a driving shot, Morgan made a unorthodox reverse layup and Matthew Morrison scored to put the Cats up 35-23 and force a Whitefish timeout.
Later in the quarter, a layup by Logan Bechtel put the Cats up 42-28, but the team had to settle for a 12-point lead heading into the fourth.
Columbia Falls opened the fourth quarter with 13 unanswered points as the lead ballooned to 25 with 4:31 to play before the Bulldogs closed out the game with a 7-2 run.
According to Finberg, the quick start by the Wildcats was key in the victory.
“We didn’t have that lull this game when we couldn’t put the ball in the hoop, like we have been,” he said. “We were able to score pretty consistently throughout the game and it made a huge difference. Some of our kids hit some shots early on and that relaxed everyone, that was the key.”
Green led the Wildcat effort with 17 points (including four threes) and added seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Morgan finished with 14 points and four rebounds, Bechtel had 10 points, four rebounds and four steals and Morrison added eight points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.
Lowell Panasuk handed out six assists to lead the Wildcats in that category and Shriver had four rebounds and four assists.
The schedule does not get any easier for the Wildcats this week as they take on conference-leading Browning on the road Thursday before hosting undefeated Hamilton Saturday.
“Hopefully, this win will give us a little bit of confidence. We have two very tough teams coming up this week and this win should help us get ready to play them,” Finberg said.”
Whitefish 8 15 7 7 — 37
Columbia Falls 14 12 16 15 — 57
WHITEFISH: Alex Keuylian 3, Justin Conklin 3, Mark Anderson 3, Ryan Kemm 13, Lee Walburn 7, Dillon Botner 8.
COLUMBIA FALLS: Austin Green 17, Drew Morgan 14, Lowell Panasuk 2, Jack Price 2, Quintin Schriver 4, Logan Bechtel 10, Matthew Morrison 8.